The Bozeman weekly chronicle., 1887-10-26
THE GREAT BUDDlIA.
A GIGANTIC MASS OF GOLD THAT
IS WORSHiPED IN JAPAN.

A Head and shoulders Only, Ninety-iiNe
Feet Higi-Laugh,er Right Under the
Gods Nose-Ringing the Great EelI of
Kioto.
The temple of Dai-Doutsou THE great
Buddhas seems temple built for lun-nn
enormous joke to amuse the faithful.
This Great Buddha' has only head
and shoulders, at least ninet N-iiVc feet
high: he seems to he rising from the
depths of the earth with his neck stretch
ing mp like some one making painful
effort to struggle out of the ground. He
alone fills all his temple, and his curling
hair touches its roof.
One reaches him, Just rs all the gods
are reached, by n series of stairways, porli-
Goes and courts. From the gate of the
sanctuary one can not very well explain
to oneself at the first glance what is that
hillock of gold, that shapele,~ mass in
front the shoulders of Budlna. II is
only afterward when you look mp very
high, that you see far above You The colos-
sal gilded face the huge fixed eyes Gazing
down upon you from the height If ninety
feet with idiotc placidity.
l find myself making this pilgrimage at
the same time as good natulrd Nippon
family of country people, who have come
to the holy city for the first time: and the
good folks, especially the ladies. cannot
get over the idea OF seeing so big II god:
and there are cries of 'Ah!' and
''Ohr'-eXclamations OF surprise-little
screams and little laughs. Now, rcally!this
Buddha is just too funny, with his stork-
like neck and his stupid air-funnl rs any
of those snow men which urchins make nj
the corners of the streets-funuy as some
mn lnnIa IA, nrflEr hV
little children. And there the little conn
try family are all laughing right under
the gods nose-laughing till the tears roll
down their cheeks and the other visitors,
and even the guardian bron2es themselves,
also laugh to see them laugh. Then they
oil look at me 10 see how | feel about it,,
and ! have to laugh. too-can't possibly
help it. What Il country this Japan,
where everything is oddity and contrast F.!
Who could ever imagine that this frivolous
little temple, with its revercncrs and its
eternal laugh, could have lived through
centuries locked up in such ferocious nys-
terry, and have given birth 10 those thou
sands of other temples, with their monsters
and their hobgoblins?
MAKING THE ROUND.
By the payment of two cents one is
privileged 10 make the round of the great
Buddha-one ascends hy series of slop-
ing plank galleries, placed at n very steep
angle, on which You can pass behind the
head of the colossus, a little above the
nape of the neck. j advance upon it, still
accompanied by the vOyaging family; the
sloping way is slippery, old. broken
through here and there, worm cutcTI-the
ladies' very nearly fall put out my hand
to help them, and then we become good
friends right away. Behind the enormous
head, in dark nook, an Old bronze is
squutting down-for one cent he shows us
suit of armor and n war mask which
once belonged to the great Taiko-Sana-
and then he throws open for our bcneil
sundry very ancient idol closets. in whicl
with various relies Of weird aspect. There
we do not laugh any more.
In the court Of this temple is the mos
monstrous of all the bells of kintn---ii
least seven OF perhaps eight yards around
1t Is rung by means of i'm enormous bean
tipped with iron-a sort of hutterin5 ran
suspended horizontally with ropes
For two cents extra one has the right Il
experiment with it. harness myself Il
the pulling straps, a circle is forlne'
around me, and children run up, Eve
two or three young girls come behind m
to take hold, bothering me II great deal
puillnB the wrong way li;tlI lnt lllhe
bursting into fits of laughter. The unite
strength of the three is almost equal L
the power of three good kittens.
Meanwhile the battering ram begins t
yield; gradually it begins To swing
Bo0m' boom! A sound awful cavernorls
and prolonged into mighty orchestra
vibrations which must be heard throug
the whole of the sacred city.
Then the audience is so happy !-deliriou
with joy-can't get enough of it; every on
laughs, every one is in ecstasy.-Nev
Orleans Times Democrats Translator
from the French.